News In the Category "What You Already Knew"

Medical examinations of former terrorism suspects held by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, found evidence of torture and other abuse that resulted in serious injuries and mental disorders, according to a human rights group.

For the most extensive medical study of former U.S. detainees published so far, Physicians for Human Rights had doctors and mental health professionals examine 11 former prisoners. The group alleges finding evidence of U.S. torture and war crimes and accuses U.S. military health professionals of allowing the abuse of detainees, denying them medical care and providing confidential medical information to interrogators that they then exploited.

  Raw Story

The U.S. military hid the locations of suspected terrorist detainees and concealed harsh treatment to avoid the scrutiny of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to documents that a Senate committee released Tuesday.

  McClatchy

War Criminals

Vanity Fair has a lengthy article on the torture memos and the chain of responsibility for torture at US facilities, particularly Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Excerpt:

We reviewed the definition of torture, as set out in the 1984 Convention, which is binding on 145 countries, including the United States. Torture includes “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person.”

[...]

This total ban was reinforced in 1984 with the adoption of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which criminalizes torture and complicity in torture.

[...]

The fingerprints of the most senior lawyers in the administration were all over the design and implementation of the abusive interrogation policies. Addington, Bybee, Gonzales, Haynes, and Yoo became, in effect, a torture team of lawyers, freeing the administration from the constraints of all international rules prohibiting abuse.

[...]

[Jim] Haynes, as Rumsfeld’s general counsel, was the most senior lawyer in the Pentagon, a position he would retain until a month ago, when he resigned—“returning to private life,” as a press release stated.

  Vanity Fair

More secret memos to emerge. And resignations should not put these people outside the reach of war crimes trials. Which we’ll never see happen, of course. At least as long as they stay in the U.S., and maybe the UK.

In my efforts to get to the heart of this story, and its possible consequences, I visited a judge and a prosecutor in a major European city, and guided them through all the materials pertaining to the Guantánamo case. The judge and prosecutor were particularly struck by the immunity from prosecution provided by the Military Commissions Act. “That is very stupid,” said the prosecutor, explaining that it would make it much easier for investigators outside the United States to argue that possible war crimes would never be addressed by the justice system in the home country—one of the trip wires enabling foreign courts to intervene.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

We've Got Canada Scared

The Canadian government has put the United States on a watch list of countries that could practice torture. The mention is made on a secret Canadian government document not intended for public release. The document cites the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay and lists U.S. interrogation techniques including “forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation.” Other countries on the list include Israel, Syria, China, Iran and Afghanistan.

  Democracy Now!

And, speaking of torture, I hope the documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side" by Alex Gimbey who brought us "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room", gets a lot of play. I won't be able to watch it myself, as seeing images of torture makes me physically ill and unable to sleep (which, when you think about it, is probably the appropriate response), but I don't think this topic should stop being pushed to the public until the practice is stopped and amends are made, to such extent as they could ever be. I heard Gimbey say on a radio program that this documentary shows images worse than any of the Abu Ghraib photos that have been released, and that they decided against showing some that were even worse than the ones they do show. He says his goal in making this documentary is to provoke outrage. I hope he succeeds, but I am not holding my breath.

Abu Ghraib Trials Are Over

After four years, the only person with officer rank to be charged in even a remote relationship to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal has ended with an administrative reprimand. He also says he's going to write a book, and he believes that he whole investigation was lacking. He says that somebody in the civilian ranks up in the Bush Administration is responsible for the way interrogations were conducted and prisoners were abused and tortured, and that there is a link between what happens at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and Afghanistan. That won't earn reservist Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan any brownie points with his "superiors".

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

We Do Not Torture

More than 100,000 pages of newly released government documents demonstrate how US military interrogators "abused, tortured or killed" scores of prisoners rounded up since Sept. 11, 2001, including some who were not even expected of having terrorist ties, according to a just-published book.

[...]

President Bush gave "marching orders" to Gen. Michael Dunlavey, who asked the Pentagon to approve harsher interrogation methods at Guantanamo, the general claims in documents reported in the book.

The ACLU also found that an Army investigator reported Rumsfeld was "personally involved" in overseeing the interrogation of a Guantanamo prisoner Mohammed al Qahtani. The prisoner was forced to parade naked in front of female interrogators wearing women's underwear on his head and was led around on a leash while being forced to perform dog tricks.

  Raw Story

Herr Rumsfiend’s favorite memory from the war.

That wasn't torture; some people would pay big bucks for the opportunity, eh Bill-O?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Worse than Abu Ghraib?

In high-level meetings over the past several days, U.S. military officials have pressed State Department officials to assert more control over Blackwater, which operates under the department's authority, said a U.S. government official with knowledge of the discussions.

[...]

"This is a nightmare," said a senior U.S. military official. "We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term."

[...]

"This is a big mess that I don't think anyone has their hands around yet," said another U.S. military official. "It's not necessarily a bad thing these guys are being held accountable. Iraqis hate them, the troops don't particularly care for them, and they tend to have a know-it-all attitude, which means they rarely listen to anyone -- even the folks that patrol the ground on a daily basis."

  WaPo

But, for their sake, Falluja was destroyed and a surge in anti-American sentiment spread throughout Iraq.

And Waxman is claiming that Rice is trying to impede the investigation. That wouldn't be like her, would it?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The Pot Talks About the Kettle

Josh Marshall has a post quoting a speech by General Ricardo Sanchez in which the quoter (Scott Horton) concludes:

For three months now, Sanchez has been making off-the-record statements. He eventually came to the conclusion, he says, that Republican politics had trumped the national security interests of the United States in the execution of plans in Iraq. The Bush Administration had not planned to win in Iraq, but simply to keep a war running so Bush could run around and play “war president.” That is as devastating a criticism as any general has made of a president since the days of Douglas MacArthur. Unlike MacArthur’s criticisms, however, it has the advantage of being accurate.

Josh comments:

I haven't seen much published reference to this speech but it seems we can add retired Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to the list of former Bush appointees and Generals serving under the president who turn out to be thoroughly disillusioned with the president's conduct of the war.

[...]

Horton's right. If anything he understates it how devastating a charge that is. Does anyone know more about what Sanchez has been telling people off the record?

Well, whatever he's saying, he's got a lot of nerve.

I remember General Sanchez - the guy in charge of and approving the torture methods used at Abu Ghraib, and then lying about it to Congress.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The most secretive government yet

The government lawyers don't even want their arguments against releasing the rest of the Abu Ghraib photos to be made public.

Following the latest round of filings by the Department of Defense in conjunction with the State Department -which attempts to stipulate that all current and future photographs and tapes of detainee abuse be permanently sealed and, in addition, the reasons given for the motion be heavily redacted - the court ruled largely in favor of public disclosure.

[...]

The question argued yesterday is not whether the photographs and tapes are to be made public, but whether the government's arguments against making the documents public are to be made public [...]

[...]

"By and large I think it is fair to characterize that I ruled in favor of public disclosure, not because I was challenging the right and responsibility of the government to assert secrecy but because the arguments that were made were essential for the public understanding of whatever rulings I eventually make," said Hellerstein.

  Raw Story article

...To Be Continued.

Dead prisoner at Abu Ghraib

A detainee has died in a suspected murder at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, the US military said today.

The 20-year old man was found unconscious by fellow inmates in the prison yesterday, the military said in a statement. He was taken to a US military hospital and pronounced dead.

The military did not state a cause of death for the man. His name and nationality were not identified.

The military said an investigation was underway.

  Ireland Online article

Let that be a comfort to his family.

Personal integrity

The soldiers could get life in prison without parole if they are tried and convicted. All have denied wrongdoing, saying commanders had sanctioned their actions.

It's not wrong if commanders sanction it. The Nazi defense.

The charges.

Support our troops.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Vets want Abu Ghraib photos released

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), a nonpartisan veterans' organization with 12,000 members, called for a commission to investigate torture allegations today, in response to the Pentagon refusal to release photos and videos from Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, the group said in a release Monday.

In an open letter, signed by more than 2,000 veterans and supporters (including 5 flag-rank officers and more than 200 commissioned officers), the veterans urged Congress and the President to "commit -- immediately and publicly -- to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate and report on the detention and interrogation practices of U.S. military and intelligence agencies deployed in the war on terror."

[...]

Individuals who have seen the photos and videos, including some members of Congress and journalist Seymour Hersh, have reported they include scenes far worse than anything released from Abu Ghraib thus far, including rape and the videotaped beating of a prisoner. The courts had ordered the Pentagon to release the photos by Friday, July 22, but the Pentagon filed a last minute brief attempting to block their release.

[Charles Sheehan-Miles, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and the group's executive director,] said, "The Pentagon is doing everything it can to prevent the release of these graphic images, because they know that if the U.S. public were to see the true scope of the abuses, the demands for an independent investigation would be too strong to be ignored."

  Raw Story article

BushCo blocks release of new Abu Ghraib photos/videos

On July 22, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced the latest efforts of the Bush Administration to block the release of the Darby photos and videos depicting torture at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison facility. On June 2, 2004, CCR, along with the ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace filed papers with the U.S. District Court, charging the Department of Defense and other government agencies with illegally withholding records concerning the abuse of detainees in American military custody. Since then, the organizations have been repeatedly rebuffed in their efforts to investigate what happened at the prison.

In June, the government requested and received an extension from the judge stating that they needed time in order to redact the faces of the men, women and children believed to be shown in the photographs and videos. They were given until today to produce the images, but at the eleventh hour filed a motion to oppose the release of the photos and videos, based on an entirely new argument: they are now requesting a 7(F) exemption from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act to withhold law enforcement-related information in order to protect the physical safety of individuals.

  CCR article

Update 11:20 am:

And in related news...

The White House on Thursday threatened to veto a massive Senate bill for $442 billion in next year's defense programs if it moves to regulate the Pentagon's treatment of detainees or sets up a commission to investigate operations at Guantanamo Bay prison and elsewhere.

  Yahoo News article

YWA Catching up:

Eleven former intelligence officers say the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity may have damaged national security and the government's ability to gather intelligence.

The former officers made their views known in a three-page statement to congressional leaders.

   article

Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen shouted anti-U.S. slogans on Saturday as they buried three of 24 suspected Islamist militants killed inside Pakistan by U.S. forces operating out of Afghanistan.

[...]

Pakistani officials said they were checking whether any territorial violation was committed by the U.S. forces while hitting the suspected militants.

Despite its status as a key U.S. ally, Pakistan has bridled in the past at U.S. sorties across the border.

   article

An Army general who has been criticized for his role in the treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has contradicted his sworn congressional testimony about contacts with senior Pentagon officials.

Gen. Geoffrey Miller told the Senate Armed Services Committee in May 2004 that he had only filed a report on a recent visit to Abu Ghraib, and did not talk to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or his top aides about the fact-finding trip.

But in a recorded statement to attorneys three months later, Miller said he gave two of Rumsfeld's most senior aides - then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone - a briefing on his visit and his subsequent recommendations.

[...]

Miller's statement about the meeting, if true, suggests that officials at the very top of the Pentagon may have been more involved in monitoring activities at the prison than previously disclosed.

[...]

Miller, Cambone and Wolfowitz, who is now acting director of the World Bank, each declined to respond to written questions about Miller's contradictory statements. Rumsfeld, Cambone, Wolfowitz and Miller have denied knowledge of prisoner abuse.

   article

The federal government's chief investigator yesterday blasted the Pentagon for its ''atrocious financial management," saying the Defense Department was not able to give federal oversight officials a full accounting of the $1 billion being spent each week on the war in Iraq.

''If the Department of Defense were a business, they'd be out of business," David Walker, comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, said at a breakfast with reporters yesterday. ''They have absolutely atrocious financial management."

The GAO has been examining the Pentagon's Iraq expenses, and ''we're having extreme difficulty in getting the Department of Defense to provide a full accounting of what they're spending" there, Walker said. ''I can't understand how we're spending $1 billion a week."

   article

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, warned Wednesday that more terrorist attacks could be in the works in the kingdom.

The embassy issued a warden's message, or advisory, to the American community in Saudi Arabia saying that it "has received indications of operational planning for a terrorist attack or attacks in the kingdom."

   article

In a ruling seen as a sharp blow to coordinated counterterrorism efforts in Europe, Germany's highest court refused Monday to turn over an Al Qaeda suspect to Spain, arguing that a recent Europe-wide agreement to streamline extradition procedures across Europe violated the rights of German citizens.

   article

Egypt's newspapers on Saturday convey widespread shock at the arrest in Cairo of an Egyptian biochemist, Magdi Mahmoud al-Nashar, for questioning over the London bombings.

[...]

Interior Minister Habib al-Adli has said that 33-year old Egyptian Chemist Dr Magdi al-Nashar who has been arrested recently by the security forces has no connection with the terrorist al-Qaeda organisation.

In an exclusive statement to Al-Jumhuriyah, he said that what has been reported by US and British TV channels and published in Arab and western press on his connection with al-Qaeda organisation was groundless, and was based on hasty conclusion.

   article

A federal appeals court has said Osama bin Laden's driver can face a war crimes tribunal at Guantánamo after all, reversing a lower court ruling and setting the stage for a Supreme Court challenge.

[...]

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld President Bush's war powers to create a military commission to try Salim Ahmed Hamdan, 35, of Yemen.

   article

Forty-four government scientists have violated ethics rules on collaborating with pharmaceutical companies, a preliminary review by the National Institutes of Health shows.

Nine of the scientists may have violated criminal laws, the report said.

   article

It's a war that soldiers in Iraq weren't trained for: a long-distance fight to keep marriages and finances intact [...]

[...]

After surviving the chaos of Iraq, thousands of soldiers have become casualties of a fight they were poorly trained for: keeping control of their family lives during the separation of war. Men and women who feel lucky their units suffered few fatalities say they can name dozens who returned to empty houses, squandered bank accounts, divorce papers and restraining orders.

The Army divorce rate has jumped more than 80% since the fighting began overseas in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The courts around Ft. Hood, the Army's largest post, may have to add another judge to handle the caseload.

   article

President Bush said Monday that he will fire anyone in the administration found to have committed a crime in the leaking of a CIA operative's name, creating a higher threshold than he did one year ago for holding aides accountable in the unmasking of Valerie Plame.

After originally saying anyone involved in leaking the name of covert CIA operative would be fired, Bush said: "If somebody committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."

   article

And if that were actually what would happen, there'd be a very empty White House indeed.

Inside the Beltway, where everyone spends far too much time sniffing each other's fumes, speculative frenzy has the Rove crisis reaching a point where the president has no choice but to separate himself from Rove. Nonsense. In Texas, we dance with the ones that brung us.

[...]

People who think the president might cast his deputy chief of staff to the wolves need to get another fantasy. Short of a Nixonian resignation by George W. Bush, or an indictment and conviction, the Architect, Bush's Brain, Turd Blossom, or by whatever name he is called, Karl Rove is on for the long ride. There would be no Bush presidency without Rove.

   article

Touché.